Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) offers hope to people suffering from treatment-resistant major depressive disorder and other severe psychiatric illnesses. Guadalupe Psychiatric and Mental Health Services in Los Lunas, Albuquerque, and Rio Rancho, New Mexico, is an approved TMS provider offering cutting-edge BrainsWay® deep transcranial magnetic stimulation (Deep TMS™). The practice’s team of experienced mental health professionals uses TMS to help patients when other alternatives don’t relieve their symptoms. Call Guadalupe Psychiatric and Mental Health Services today or book an appointment online to discover the benefits of TMS.
TMS uses magnetic energy to treat mental health conditions that aren’t responding to medication and psychotherapy. It’s entirely noninvasive and safe, with no injections, sedatives, or drugs used during your treatment.
The Guadalupe Psychiatric and Mental Health Services team uses the BrainsWay Deep TMS platform to improve mental health and transform lives. BrainsWay Deep TMS has FDA clearance for major depressive disorder (MDD), anxious depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and smoking addiction.
TMS can also help people with other mental health problems, including bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), schizophrenia, and dementia.
TMS helps to activate parts of your brain affected by mental health disorders. The mood center of your brain sends messages between neurons (the brain’s nerve cells). This is possible because chemicals called neurotransmitters enable the neurons to make connections that optimize brain function.
When you have a disorder like depression, neurotransmitters such as serotonin and dopamine are likely in short supply. Antidepressant medications can help by boosting neurotransmitter production and preventing their removal. However, antidepressants don’t work for everyone.
TMS stimulates the mood center, giving it a kickstart that helps reduce the symptoms of mental health disorders like depression, even when medicines don’t help.
During a TMS session at Guadalupe Psychiatric and Mental Health Services, your provider performs a series of tests to identify the optimal TMS coil placement. They assess your motor threshold (the minimum energy required to make your thumb twitch) and calculate the power needed to stimulate your brain cells.
Your provider then adjusts the TMS headpiece and places it against your scalp. They position the coils near your forehead, above the brain’s mood center, for accurate penetration. As the therapy begins, you may initially hear clicking sounds and feel a tapping sensation under the coil. The process takes 15-20 minutes.
TMS treatment doesn’t require downtime, so you can return to your usual activities afterward. Most patients experience at least 75% improvement in their depression after TMS, and 50% benefit from complete remission. To get the most benefit from TMS, you should attend sessions five days a week for between four and six weeks.
Call Guadalupe Psychiatric and Mental Health Services today or book an appointment online to learn more about benefiting from TMS.